I bet you've used Consumer Reports to help buy a used car, washing machine or hi-def TV.  But did you realize that you can now use Consumer Reports to shop for healthcare?  Hospital ratings data has now gone mainstream, not buried in obscure sites like cms.hhs.gov and leapfroggroup.org that many consumers are still unaware of.  

Consumer Reports is now providing hospital ratings for more than 3,400 U.S. hospitals using HCAHPS data.  Consumers can now find the famous "Recommended" checkmark for a hospital just like they would do for a Toyota.  You can track ratings on eight performance indicators regarding the patient experience, including nurse and physician communication, room cleanliness, discharge information, staff attentiveness, communication about medications, pain control and noise level.

Are we ready for consumers to see our true colors as they would for a car or computer?  Results show that we're not:

- 92% of the hospitals received the lowest ratings for staff communication about medications

- 82% of the hospitals received negative feedback for the way they give out discharge instructions

In short, the kimono is now open.  We are exposed to the consumer community and we should be.  I would appreciate your thoughts about how we make sure that our customers trust us enough to give us the Consumer Reports "Recommended" checkmark.

Are you tired of your friends showing off their latest iPhone applications?  Well, there is one iPhone program that will impact all of us in healthcare – Canopy Financial’s new iPhone application for consumer-directed health (CDH) plan enrollees. This new application allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to determine if they can use their spending accounts to pay for a procedure – and, more importantly, determine the typical cost of the procedure based on zip code.

According to Canopy’s CEO, this information will help consumers comparison shop for procedures and even negotiate prices with providers.  Contact information is included! The next target for this consumer-friendly pricing model? The Blackberry. The company’s goal is to eventually have this program available on all mobile phones.

I have long believed that price transparency and even price parity will be coming to healthcare.  And, I feel strongly that healthcare providers must focus on developing a compelling customer-focused value proposition that includes but also transcends price.

With consumers negotiating prices, it is more important than ever to connect with customers before they need a procedure.  Then price will become only a part of the value equation – with service and brand playing a key role.  Pricing is no longer the elephant in the room that no one will discuss.  What are you doing to promote your value to consumers? 

Southwest Airlines is known for its great customer service. In general, the airline industry, like healthcare (unfortunately), is not regarded as the epitome of exceptional service, which is why Southwest stands out. Its unfaltering commitment to service excellence also explains why the airline has been profitable–no matter what the economy–for 35 years.

Cynthia Williams Young, Southwest’s senior director of labor relations, was a keynote presenter at The Beryl Institute’s recent Pursuit of Excellence conference in Dallas. The conference was attended by healthcare marketers from across the country and focused on improving customer service in healthcare. Southwest is a great example of how customer service can permeate an organization’s entire culture, no matter how large, diverse, or geographically-dispersed the workforce.

If the airline industry can do it, so can healthcare. To read seven secrets from Southwest about how to increase your customer service, please click here. 

The economic environment has certainly impacted healthcare, including government cuts, increases in the uninsured population, and job loss. However, in recent news at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, the economy had nothing to do with their 140 layoffs. Instead, they were due to culture.

Michael Young, the sixth CEO at Grady within the last three years, was hired to turn around an organization that has been heavily criticized for its culture, which was characterized as tolerating inefficiency and hampering patient care. With Young’s record of outstanding leadership, change at Grady is within reach. As the saying goes, “the achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” As such, every employee at Grady must be onboard and have the same goal in mind of changing perceptions, which will then change reality.

As leaders, do we ask ourselves if we have the right people in the right positions to drive innovation and create a culture of excellence? Are you ready to make the tough decisions?

I’m interested in your thoughts about how culture affects an organization, for the better or worse. Please share any specific examples you have.

My dentist's assistant called me on my birthday. The local book store sent me a note to tell me that my favorite author had published a new book - and sent an order form. Amazon sent me a listing of the latest business books. That made me think - what are hospitals doing to proactively connect with customers in a meaningful way? They may not want to buy our services unless they really need them, but isn't that all the more reason to keep in touch?

Are we reaching out to customers after discharge, just to see how they're doing? Are we following up after a diabetes education class to check if patients want to enroll in a nutrition class? We build tremendous databases of customer/patient information. Who is doing anything with this valuable data?

We all know that resources are stretched thin. But the connections and loyalties that customers establish now will last for years. How are we working to deliver excellent and proactive customer service despite shrinking budgets and staff?

I'm interested in how you are addressing these questions.

Declining reimbursements. Rising supply costs. Tightening credit markets. Hospitals can no longer be considered recession proof. The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that as of Nov. 30, 2008, 107 hospitals had reported mass layoffs, defined as 50 or more unemployment claims filed against one company at one time. That is the highest yearly number since 1996 when the bureau began keeping these statistics.

While most of these layoffs impact non-clinical staff, some smaller hospitals have even terminated employed physicians. With layoffs looming, it is even more challenging to focus on customer service along the entire continuum of the patient experience – from the first inquiry, through registration, and post-discharge. In these difficult times, hard choices are being made. The first impulse is to cut everything not tied directly to patient care – however, for patients care is not just visits with doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff. Care and related patient satisfaction is the sum of their entire hospital experience.

I am eager to start a conversation about what you are doing at your hospital to ensure that customer service doesn’t suffer during this economic downturn. Share your thoughts today.

The economy is producing challenges for all industries – and healthcare is not immune. According to a recent McKinsey article, consumer companies are cutting back service levels, reducing staffing, and increasing prices. Not surprisingly, this is having a negative impact on customer satisfaction.

But savvy companies are challenging their long held beliefs about customer service levels to minimize wasteful spending while investing in true drivers of satisfaction. In call centers, this is particularly relevant. Research shows that two metrics are very important to consumers – how quickly the phone is answered and the time spent on hold. By ensuring that these are met, satisfaction levels will remain high.

At Beryl, we closely monitor customer satisfaction to ensure that we are focusing on and investing in what matters to your customers. This is especially important in times like this. In the healthcare industry, we cannot let our focus on patient satisfaction erode. I would like to start a conversation about how hospitals are using the difficult economy to target activities which can bolster patient satisfaction. Let me know what you are doing to maintain satisfaction in these challenging times.

You’ve seen the headlines and you’ve read the reports--U.S. Hospitals Lag in Patient Satisfaction! According to the October 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, patients surveyed complained of improper pain treatment and unclear discharge instructions. Consequently, re-hospitalization rates have skyrocketed, and less than 70% of patients would recommend the hospital where they were treated.

Guarded with this information, how can we better engage patients across the entire continuum of care? Talking to patients more frequently, clearly, and consistently by asking questions such as, “How are you feeling?” and “Do you understand your medications and discharge instructions?” will help demonstrate how we truly care about their experience during their hospital visit. Once they leave, we must go the extra mile and reach out again illustrating that we also care about their recovery at home.

I would like to start a dialogue and find out what programs you have in place to connect with patients post discharge.

For those of you who are shoe lovers or know shoe lovers, you are familiar with Zappos - the online shoe emporium known for legendary customer service, free shipping on purchases and returns, and devotion to an outstanding customer experience. But did you know that Zappos offers new hires $2,000 to quit – before they have even started?

A recent Business Week article explored this unique Zappos phenomenon. After a four week training program, where new hires are steeped in the Zappos culture, they are offered salary for the time worked plus $2,000 to quit. A surprising 97% of them choose to stay.

How many of us would find the same things within our own organization? And how many of us deliver the same high and consistent level of customer service that Zappos does?

Like Zappos, when building a culture driven by customer service, we have to focus on our hiring and training practices. At Beryl, we hire for compassion and put new advisors through a rigorous cultural and skill-based training program. All in the spirit of delivering exemplary customer service to our clients and their customers.

I’m interested in what you’re doing to create a customer service culture. Please post a comment

The company doctor is back - at least at Cardone Industries in Northeast Philadelphia. They teamed up with Holy Redeemer Health System and built a new health facility to server their employees on site. Their dual goal is to improve healthcare while reducing costs. They are not alone. Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City has a Health and Wellness Center and Toyota has a fully staffed health center in San Antonio both operated by Walgreen's.

Walgreen's currently has about 400 work-site clinics. It plans to oepn 100 to 150 more a year. Johns Hopkins operates about fifty clinics focusing primarily on preventive care.

The implications for hospitals are enormous. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Toyota paired the San Antonio center, which now provides half the primary care to 4,000 emploees, on-site suppliers and their families, with a restricted network of hospitals and specialists who scored in the top 25 percent on quality ratings. In exchange for having fewer competitors, the hospitals and specialists gave Toyota a 20 percent price break.

"As the government, industry, and healthcare organizations struggle to find solutions to the problems facing healthcare today, new care models will emerge and old care models will resurface. The competitive landscape is changing rapidly with national players - like Walgreen's - getting into the direct care delivery business. I'm interested in your thoughts. Is your strategy to compete or partner with these clinics? How will you link them to your hospital? What role does customer service play in these new alliances? Let me know your views.